MINNEAPOLIS — On November 24, the European Union — that self-professed haven of free speech — passed a nonbinding resolution aimed at combating Russian state-owned media.

Accusing Russia of undermining “democratic values” and seeking to “divide Europe” via its media networks, the document specifically calls out RT, despite the fact that less than 0.1% of European TV viewers even watch the network.

It’s the Cold War 2.0, and this McCarthyist, “red scare” type of fear-mongering against Russia is being used not just to disenfranchise unpopular views, but to muzzle watchdogs and censor alternative media throughout the so-called “free world.”

The same day the EU passed its resolution to counter what it calls “propaganda warfare,” the Washington Post ran a hit piece outing many progressive and alternative watchdog journalism outlets as “Russian propaganda tools.” According to the report, these outlets, including MintPress, Truthdig and Truthout, were responsible for handing Donald Trump the presidency by publishing “fake news” about Hillary Clinton during the campaign.

The bulk of the Post’s report relied on PropOrNot, a mysterious online organization that made its social media debut in August.

PropOrNot states that, by its standards, “Russian propaganda” includes any site which criticizes the “US, Obama, Hillary Clinton, the EU, Angela Merkel, NATO, Ukraine, Jewish people, US allies, the ‘mainstream media,’ and democrats, the center-right or center-left, and moderates of all stripes.”

That’s broad, to say the least, but it boils down to this:

If you’re a watchdog journalist, upholding the First Amendment, defending constitutional rights, and working to revive the fourth estate from an expanding war machine and surveillance state — PropOrNot will out you as a minion of Moscow.

And while some of the 200 websites on PropOrNot’s “The List” do publish stories which are blatantly false, calls to “take action” against “fake news” have led some writers to warn about the potential for censorship of unpopular opinion.

Here to discuss the consequences for independent media outlets caught up in the “fake news” frenzy is Shadowproof’s managing editor, Kevin Gosztola.

I began by asking him how we — members of independent media and the watchdog journalism world — can combat the real “fake news” and propaganda spread by the mainstream, establishment media.

Learn more about fake news and see the top censored stories of 2016 in the full episode of Behind The Headline:

This commentary ignores the fact that President Putin has been trying to re-ignite the Cold War for the past four years. Attacking Georgia, attacking the Ukraine, threatening NATO countries with underwater incursions? He shouldn’t be surprised with what he gets in return.

Despite that, President-elect Trump is going to try and patch up relations. Despite the fact I’m holding my nose, Russia is the “indispensable ally.” Without Russia, we can’t stop a new arms race, take action against Iran, or do much of anything on the world stage.

Cooperation is also cheaper than re-stationing more American troops in Europe – especially when western Europe does not appear interested in spending more money, itself, on its own strategic defenses.

Resource exploitation, military occupation and so-called “anti-terror” efforts led by Western countries are destabilizing several countries in Africa, leading to widespread starvation and sickness for millions of people. Famine has become a daily fact of life for many in Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa.

Iraqi agriculture expert Dr. Nakd Altameemi joins Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ to discuss the devastating toll that war, sanctions and Western corporations have had on Iraq’s centuries-old agricultural traditions.

Rania Khalek, an independent journalist who has been blacklisted for her recent reports on Syria, joins Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ to discuss the silencing of journalists who oppose the mainstream media’s pro-war agenda.

As an unprecedented wave of outrage swells against the Trump administration, Mnar Muhawesh, host of ‘Behind the Headline,’ wonders why people weren’t more outraged with Obama’s policies on mass surveillance, whistleblowers, and war.